Many industrial processes produce off-gases containing volatile carbon compounds. It is desirable that these compounds be oxidized to carbon dioxide before release to the atmosphere.
Catalytic converters in automobile exhaust systems act on a mixture of volatile carbon compounds and oxygen to convert the carbon compounds to carbon dioxide. Such converters often contain a platinum group metal, for example, rhodium.
Published European Patent Application 0,585,795 (Aug. 25, 1993) notes that in DE-AS 22 57 968 a device is described in which metal wool is placed in the exhaust line before an oxidation catalyst. This device is designed in such a fashion that soot particles and hydrocarbons are precipitated from exhaust gases onto the metal wool. The gases, thus, purified and stabilized, then flow through the oxidation catalyst. When the engine is heated to operating temperature, the precipitated hydrocarbons evaporate and are oxidized in the oxidation catalyst.
Some industrial gas streams, such as the gas stream from the oxidation of para-xylene to produce terephthalic acid, contain, in addition to carbon monoxide and/or hydrocarbons, other volatile carbon compounds such as methylbromide. It is desirable to remove the bromine component from such a stream, in addition to oxidizing the other volatile carbon compounds.